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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22987495">Forgotten Birthdays</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeandintoxicating/pseuds/Strange%20and%20Intoxicating%20-rsa-'>Strange and Intoxicating -rsa- (strangeandintoxicating)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Pidge and Shiro are basically siblings, Pidge is a good little sister, Sheith if you squint, Shiro needs his family sometimes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:55:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,083</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22987495</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeandintoxicating/pseuds/Strange%20and%20Intoxicating%20-rsa-</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Every year, Shiro hopes that everyone forgets about his birthday. A year older, a year closer to death...</p>
<p>But family never forgets. </p>
<p><i>His</i> family never forgets.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Pidge | Katie Holt &amp; Shiro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Forgotten Birthdays</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelticmoon/gifts">Kelticmoon</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This one is for KelticMoon! I hope you really enjoy it! I agree that Shiro and Pidge had a beautiful relationship, and I am glad I had the chance to write more of it!</p>
<p>This takes place sometime during S4!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s February 29th, and Shiro logically knows that it’s his birthday, but no one else on the Castle Ship seems to remember. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It doesn’t particularly bother him— he knows that the team cares about him, that time’s messed up and wonky on the best of days, and that he’s been putting their noses down to the pavement to get ready for the next <em>Voltron Show!</em> so there isn’t time to think about what comes next.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He does manage to get a message from Keith, who doesn’t wish him a happy birthday, but instead promises that he’ll try to call as soon as possible and reminds Shiro exactly how much he means to them all, but Keith especially. He’s on a really important mission somewhere out in Quadrant 3, and he wishes he could’ve been with Shiro instead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span><em>I know you don’t like today, but try to do something fun. Or at least try to rest,</em> Keith signs off with, despite the fact that both Shiro and Keith know he’ll do no such thing. They don’t have the time, not when both Zarkon and Prince Lotor are out there, wreaking havoc or enslaving another star system.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twenty-six and still breathing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twenty-six and still moving.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twenty-six and still <em>living</em>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s enough for anyone to want to celebrate.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Especially when I didn’t think it was ever going to happen.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His entire life, Shiro had dreaded marking the days down on the calendar; it was just a reminder about the pendulum swinging, about what would possibly happen tomorrow, or the day after… or the day after that. He never expected he’d make it to his 25th birthday, let alone his 26th. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s some joy in proving the doctors wrong, but...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still, the silence from the others makes Shiro’s heart ache, just a little. He pushes it back down, knowing that it’s ridiculous to expect anyone to remember his Earth birthday, especially when he never wanted to share it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dinner goes by quick enough, and instead of sticking around for some extra games, Shiro tells the others that he’s gunna head off to the gym and then bed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You sure, Shiro?” Pidge asks, glasses askew. She’s been fumbling with her computer all afternoon, barely looking up once. She’s been a bit distracted, though Shiro can only assume it has to do with a new program she’s been working on. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks.” He manages to smile, hoping Pidge doesn’t see anything off. He tries not to touch his arm, then— he hasn’t felt any pain from the muscle twinges in a while, but there’s this constant niggling fear in the back of Shiro’s mind that one day they’ll be back, some day he won’t be able to control them, one day… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One day Shiro’s going to die, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That little twinge of heartache before was back now, but for a different reason, and Shiro prays that Pidge doesn’t see it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He can’t have this conversation with her— not now, not ever. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From the way she shrugs her shoulder and manages a half-hearted wave, it seems that it did the trick. “‘Kay, night!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro manages about five sets of his daily exercises, even sparring against the Altean models a few times until his entire body is sore, and his head is spinning. More than once, it feels like someone’s staring at him, but every time he looks up, he can’t see anyone or anything.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still, Shiro remembers what it was like the last time the Castle Ship acted strangely, so he keeps up his guard as he makes his way back to his rooms.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No Sendak, no monsters from his mind ready to jump out and attack him the moment he turns his back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro has to stop himself from laughing when he gets to his rooms. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was silly and stupid, but… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No one was there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No one was <em>there</em>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro sighs, just once, before he goes inside. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What greets him though isn’t what Shiro expected. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Katie— what?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pidge is in her pajamas, legs hanging off the side of Shiro’s bed as she scuffs her green lion slippers on the metal. She’s got her hair tied up in little pigtails, kind of like she sometimes did before Kerberos, when she still had her long hair and the entire world hadn’t turned itself on a different axis. Shiro remembers just how many times he’d seen her exactly like this when growing up with Matt as his best friend. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s something else, Shiro notices as he steps into the room, closing the door softly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I, um… I know how you feel about your birthday,” Pidge says, looking down with a tinge of embarrassment. “So I didn’t want to make it a big thing or anything, but I figured… you’d wanna hang out, maybe? Like, you know…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <em>Like we did for all my other birthdays.</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the Holt household, Shiro’s birthday was never met with balloons and parties or even well-wishes. Shiro knew that Matt or Sam had never really explained the reason why to Pidge, but she still remembered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead it was video games and junk food and just a day where no one mentioned him getting older. No doctors, no needles, no reminders of the clock running out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro looks down at Pidge and Lance’s rigged-up game system, at <em>Killbot Phantasm: Journey to the Depths of the Demonsphere</em>, and Shiro can feel the tears in his eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… I thought you forgot,” Shiro admits.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who do you think Keith asked to figure out the date?” Pidge replies just as quickly. But instead of making Shiro feel stupid, it… it makes his heart feel so full it could almost burst. “I didn't tell the others because, well, you know them. Make a big thing out of it and all,” she adds. “I know you wouldn't want that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You're right, Katie.” There's a brief moment, a brief pause, and Shiro wonders if he should say more. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Pidge has never really been one for silence, and she breaks it as quickly as it began to stifle them. “You want to be the Paladin, right?” Pidge offers as she reaches behind her and pulls out one of the controllers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you want to be the Dragoon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro reaches out and takes the controller, trying to keep the tears at bay.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks, Katie.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pidge smiles. “What are little sisters for?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the first time all day, Shiro smiles. He <em>really</em> smiles.</span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
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